


Moonlight

by 125389



Category: Chrno Crusade
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:54:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/125389/pseuds/125389
Summary: There's nothing worse than all work and no play. Rosette and co. are on the verge of collapse, but Satella has a solution: a Halloween party. While the short notice leaves everyone scrambling for outfits, hearts and thoughts are racing even faster. After all, a costume can only conceal so much.
Relationships: Rosette Christopher/Chrono
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fanfic that I uploaded to FF on Oct 26, 2016, and it's now Feb 15, 2021. I've tidied things up to better reflect my current style while maintaining the essence of the original story.

"Ugh, I'm beat!" Three other voices murmured their agreement as they filed into the motel room. An onlooker would've thought they were a parody of RPG character classes: a nun, a demon, a witch, and a songstress. Presently, this RPG party was exhausted in New Jersey.

Rosette plopped onto a bed and kicked her boots off, flexing her toes briefly before removing her stockings, and the rest of the group followed suit. Various other accessories were shed until they sat silently, appreciating the respite from the noise and chaos. Satella glanced to the bed where Chrono sat rubbing his shoulder and Rosette lay blinking slowly at the ceiling, and she teased, "Aw Chrono, you always go to the same bed as Rosette!"

"I've known her for the longest."

"Don't you wanna get to know other people? Hey Rosette, I'll trade you Azmaria for Chrono. An angel for your demon."

Rosette snorted, "Anyways! Have we decided who's showering first because if we haven't, then I'm going." She crossed the room to her suitcase, grabbed a few things, and occupied the restroom.

"She's prickly..." whispered Azmaria.

Satella scoffed, "She's always like that. Typical Aquarius shit."

"There she goes talking about sky rocks again," muttered Chrono.

"Hey, I like rocks!" She held up a jewel to reflect the lamplight into his eyes, and he shielded himself as she continued, "You better find out what day and time you were born so that I can check your sky rocks too."

"I don't know, and I'll never know. Why's it matter?"

"It's good for estimating compatibility, and I know you know _exactly_ whom I'm talking about when I say 'compatibility.'"

His brow dipped in annoyance, but before he could retort, Satella exclaimed, "Any specific dinner requests?" She pressed herself against the restroom door and shouted, "Rosette?!"

"I don't care!"

"I’ll come with!" cried Azmaria as she scrambled to get her shoes and socks on.

"I take it our resident demon will eat anything up to human flesh. Don't get too wild while we’re gone." She caught Azmaria's hand and led her away, and Chrono sunk farther into the bed.

Rosette emerged from the restroom in her pajamas and was greeted by the sound of static from the radio and the sight of Chrono gazing absentmindedly at it. She joked, "Some folks say you can hear the dead that way."

"Sorry, I was spacing out," he mumbled before heading in for his shower. His occasional bouts of mysterious behavior weren’t new, and she shrugged it off, changed the radio to music, and settled down to clean her guns and wait for dinner.

Meanwhile, Chrono was enduring the turmoil of shower thoughts: "Just tell her you like her so you can stop feeling weird about it! What's the point though?! She's a _nun_! She'll say, 'I only have room in my heart for God,' or something like that. But what if... what if she's like, 'Forget this whole nun thing. I like you too.' What if she says no though, and then everything gets awkward?!" Amidst this mental ordeal, one truth shone steadily: he was sure he loved her. He wanted to share this, but he understood that she aimed to accomplish several goals in a truncated amount of time. Where in this time would there be room for love? He also considered her faith: the church would explode if they heard that a demon was getting together with one of their sisters. He pondered it for a while longer before discarding it.

His gloom was poorly concealed when they had their dinner later. Satella glanced at Chrono sighing, at Rosette staring vacantly ahead, and at Azmaria examining a paper cut like it was the most interesting thing ever. "My god," Satella whispered, and when they looked to her, she cried, "We're all young and hot, but we don't ever have time to show off or just go out for fun."

After a long pause, Rosette said, "...Really?"

"Yeah, really! The west coast is still fucking around; we're stuck waiting on them; and now they're saying it might take a week for a response." Satella slumped against her chair, despairing about how she'd finally acquired friends but had no opportunities to flaunt them. The others unceremoniously resumed eating, and after a while, her face brightened before she began rummaging around in her bodice. She produced a folded paper, and Rosette groaned, "Ugh, it's wrinkly from your boob sweat."

The snorts and giggles were ignored as Satella announced, "Firstly, we're not staying here when I've got a perfectly good house. Secondly, I've got what we need: an acquaintance's invitation. She's throwing a Halloween party. We should—"

"No," Rosette interrupted. "That's nice of you to think of us, but this sounds too much like a potential chance for Sister Kate to nag me."

"Not if she doesn't find out!" This outburst from Azmaria astonished everyone, and she continued, "Our time together is short. Do we wanna look back on it and only see work? And anyways, Rosette, you were the one who told me that it's only bad if you get caught!"

Rosette stiffened and glanced away, and Satella snickered and said, "We're a democracy, so it's down to you, Chrono."

"I guess one night won't hurt." This earned an alarmed look from Rosette, but before she could rebuke him, Satella exclaimed, "Hell yeah! Damn, the party's on Saturday. We've only got tomorrow and the day after to find costumes. We've gotta do some thinking, but let's get some rest first."

If Rosette had died in her sleep that night, then she wouldn't have minded given that the following morning entailed her anxiously clutching the phone while the others huddled around her, partially for moral support, partially to witness the damage firsthand. When she heard, "Hello, Sister Kate speaking," she almost decided to hang up, but they crowded in tighter around her, preventing her escape. She glared at them before saying in a voice with feigned weakness: "Hey, Sister Kate, it's Rosette. Sorry for the trouble, but I've not been feeling well. I was hoping for some days off."

For this feeble voice to emerge from the girl who seemingly never got sick stunned Sister Kate. "Fine. How long do you think you'll need?"

Satella held up four fingers for four days, and Rosette said, "I think I'll be good by Monday. A weekend should be enough."

"Are you sure? Just how are you feeling?"

Satella hurriedly handed Azmaria a cup containing water mixed with remnants of last night's dinner before whispering to Rosette, "Make a sick noise, and give me the phone." Rosette narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but she obeyed with a groan and handed Satella the phone as Azmaria dashed into the restroom and slowly started emptying the cup into the toilet. Satella held the phone up in the direction of the splatters and plops, and Chrono shook with suppressed laughter. Horrified and appalled, Rosette snatched the phone back and stammered, "I-I've gotta go, Sister Kate!" As soon as she hung up, her group lost their composure, and she wondered how she'd earned this fate.

After they caught their breaths, Satella arranged for transportation to Manhattan, and they found themselves within a costume store. They rummaged through the options, and Satella gasped delightedly, "A ringmaster! This is perfect for Chrono since he runs with us clowns. What've you got there, Azmaria?" A princess costume was hesitantly extended, and it received scrutiny and then approval. Rosette was still undecided, and Satella urged, "Pretend you're not with the church until Monday. Pick something sexy, something that's the opposite of a nun. Like this." The latter pulled out a risqué pirate costume, and Rosette grabbed it from her to hang back up.

"She likes it," declared Satella, and then she silenced the protest by dragging them from the store and saying, "We've got our ideas! Let's go!"

Azmaria asked disappointedly, "We're not buying anything?"

"Not from here. I'd never be caught hanging with people wearing those rags. I've a better idea." One phone call later, and Steiner had collected and deposited them at Satella's house. They'd gathered in her room, and she emerged from her closet with a garment bag and said to Azmaria, "How's this for princess?"

A powder blue bouquet of fabric, bows, and ruffles bloomed forth, and Azmaria's eyes watered with awe at the sight of a Rococo-inspired dress sized for a girl. "This is incredible! Where'd you get this?"

"It was mine. My first year in America after my parents died, I learned about Halloween and begged Steiner to let me be Marie Antoinette. Oh, speaking of!" Satella went to the doorway and called for him, and when he answered, she said, "Your gift should’ve been delivered today. Did you get it?"

"Yes and thank you, miss, but I've yet to hang it up. It's heavy, and the couriers were inconsiderate and didn't carry it upstairs. I'll have to wait until the gardener or cook returns to request their assistance."

"I'll help," offered Chrono, and he was led to a large, cloth-covered rectangle set on the living room floor. He and Steiner each grasped an end, painstakingly ascended the stairs, and disappeared into the latter's room. The phone rang, and Steiner hurried out to answer it. The girls peeked into the room just as Chrono stretched up to secure a nail, and when it was evident that he was too short, a blur of darkness momentarily enveloped him.

Before them appeared a statuesque, adult figure. Fitted pants replaced the boyish shorts, but the violet hair and red coat confirmed that this was indeed Chrono. Now sufficiently tall, he moved to place the nail but was startled by a loud gasp behind him. He froze upon discovering his spies, and Satella exclaimed, "Why aren't you like this all the time?!"

"It's easier to get around as a kid. There'd be lots of whispering if people saw a man accompanying a nun everywhere. Plus, I don't think Sister Kate would appreciate seeing me like this around the convent..."

"Lame. Well, hurry up with that mirror. Don’t change back because I've an idea."

Steiner reappeared and hesitated at the new appearance, but he quashed his uncertainty and offered his aid. When they completed the mirror's installation, Satella reappeared and triumphantly announced, "I just called and got an emergency appointment with my tailor that we can definitely make if we leave right now." Questions were dismissed and disregarded, and Chrono soon found himself before a mirror having his measurements taken. The tailor huffed, "Ms. Harvenheit, you're pushing it expecting a tailcoat and a vest in two days."

She answered pleadingly, "I know, but I asked you because you're the best. Would a tip help?” The tailor's eyes followed her closely as she produced some bills, and he said, "Oh... oh, you! How could I turn you down? It'll be ready by Saturday morning."

She thanked him effusively, and once they exited, Chrono said, "Satella, this is too much. Of course, we appreciate it, but you really don't have to."

"Relax. It's not your money." She led them to a shoe store and flashed her finances again, and after purchasing a pair of riding boots for Chrono, they returned home for dinner. Two guest rooms were presented, and she inwardly gloated when she believed that she’d managed to trap Chrono and Rosette together. To Satella’s dismay, Rosette followed Azmaria, and Chrono headed into the second room alone. When Rosette exited a few minutes later for a glass of water, Satella stormed forth and hissed, "What are you doing?! Chrono's in there being hot, and you ditch him?!"

“Huh…? What are you on?!"

"Sister, I'm trying to help you and him get it on." This stupefied and flustered Rosette so severely that she couldn't properly retort; she could only scowl fiercely as she went to the kitchen. She pointedly averted her eyes from the wingwoman on the journey back and upheld this petulance until breakfast the following morning. Food restored them to high spirits, and they spent their day off taking a joy ride around town, sightseeing, and letting the illusion of youthful normalcy settle over them. Not even the night could subdue them, and it took Satella asserting that beauty sleep was necessary for them to finally settle into their beds.

The dawn of the big day brimmed with tremulous energy, and when Steiner returned from retrieving the bespoke clothes, they surrounded Satella eagerly as she undid the garment bag. A vibrant, scarlet tailcoat with flashy, gold epaulettes appeared, and a gold, silk vest accompanied it. They gushed over everything before segueing into vivid speculations of what to expect at the party later that evening. In the middle of this, Rosette yawned, and Satella remarked, "Baby should take a nap. We're gonna be up late tonight." Azmaria and Chrono agreed that they too wanted rest, and they each headed for their rooms.

When Azmaria and Rosette neared their room, they spotted painters moving about, and Steiner hurried forth and said, "Apologies for the lack of warning. This was the only day the painters were available this week. I've packed your things up here, and Miss Satella has offered to share her room with Miss Azmaria. She said that Sister Rosette is accustomed to sharing quarters with Mr. Chrono?"

Rosette floundered at the audacity of this scheme before declaring, "I don't need to sleep. I'm not tired."

"You say that, and then you get cranky later," said Chrono as he walked around her and into his room. When he was out of earshot, Satella taunted, "What's the matter? You've never been shy to share a bed with him. Why now?"

Never one to retreat from a challenge, Rosette marched after him and then balked and regretted her decision at the sight of him in nothing but shorts and a button-up. This shouldn't have been a big deal; she'd watched him undress down to shorts and a tank top an innumerable amount of times. But... this was different. This wasn't the boy she was used to; this was a man removing his shirt, crawling into bed, and lying on his side to face away from her. She wanted to bolt, but she envisioned Satella's mocking face and became determined to defeat it. She stripped down to her camisole and bloomers, and over the sound of her thundering heart, she tried to convince herself that this was a totally normal nap with Chrono, something she'd done scores of times before. 

This lie must've worked because sleep eventually claimed them, and it took Steiner's knocking on the door to awake them later. Rosette didn't want to rise for how comfortable she was, and she nuzzled into the warm surface before her... that moved because it was breathing. Horror stained her descent to wakefulness as she realized that she was pressed against Chrono's back, and she rolled away slowly, hoping that he was still asleep. A wave of embarrassment washed over her and dashed her hopes when he moved some hair from his face, but he appeared unbothered as he got up to get dressed.

A knock on the door was followed by Satella's grinning face, and the intruder handed Chrono his clothes before hauling Rosette to her room. There to greet them was the regal vision of Azmaria, who had awoken earlier so that Satella could style her hair into an updo. The princess stood fully dressed and accessorized, and as she joyfully twirled her skirt, Satella passed Rosette a garment so that she found herself in a thigh-length evening coat with a neckline that plunged to right above her navel. The two hotheads shared shoe sizes, and after the ensemble was completed with Satella's jewelry and thigh-high boots, Rosette stood stiffly, placed a hand over her cleavage, and upon feeling the necklaces, said uneasily, "I feel exposed. What if I mess up your rocks?"

"Then I'll mess you up. Your bloomers are peeking out. Roll them up, or better yet, just don't wear them." This earned a dangerous look, and Satella hummed, "Something's missing. Oh! Steiner!"

He answered her summon, vanished, and reappeared with a tricorn hat for Rosette, who waited for him to leave before asking, "Why's he have this?"

"Remember when I said I dressed as Marie Antoinette? Well, he dressed to match me."

Once Rosette was primped and painted, she led Azmaria away so that Satella could ready herself. Steiner had loaned Chrono a top hat with gloves folded neatly inside, and he sat vacantly rolling the hat in his hands until the two of them joined him. The slivers of skin in Rosette's outfit caught his eye, but he hid this by distracting them with chatter until Satella emerged in a black, floor-length evening gown. The cut was modest with a standing collar and long sleeves, but the gauzy fabric left little to the imagination. A large, elegant witch hat with a strip of twinkling chiffon wrapped around its base and trailing off its brim adorned her head, and Rosette remarked, "You dressed as yourself."

"I couldn't resist! I never get a chance to wear my mom's hat. Now are we ready to get trashed or what?!"

* * *

Red, black, even, odd; the silver sphere raced around its course, taking with it hopes, dreams, and dollars. A luxurious hotel served as the party's venue, and it was at one of the hotel's roulette tables that Rosette had bet on a split, two adjacent numbers. As the ball slowed, Chrono sighed, "I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Please, Lord, _please_ let me have this!"

"Don't pray while you're gambling! Why'd you bet so much on only two numbers when you know our luck is no luck?!"

"Deuteronomy 32:35 is just my vibe, you know? Vengeance and all that."

"...You're unbelievable."

Its momentum exhausted, the ball settled into 35, and Rosette jumped and squealed. She'd barely had time to savor her cupful of chips when Satella's voice called out for them. She spotted Rosette's winnings and teased, "But how much did you lose before that?" as she led them into a sitting room. A few guests were scattered about with drinks in their hands, and the alcohol's source became apparent when Satella unfolded what had seemed like an innocuous desk in the corner. She returned and handed them some glasses before sitting down and inquiring, "So, how are you liking things?"

"I see you're opposed to Prohibition," Chrono commented as he took a sip.

"Says Chrono the _Sinner_. If only we could go as hard as the witches of yore who partied by dancing naked under a full moon."

Rosette, now aware of her threshold between fun drunk and chaotic drunk (thanks to an incident at Satella's), drained her glass and chirped, "This is swell!"

Satella exclaimed, "Right?! I bet you're glad you didn't chicken out!"

"Yeah, it's mind-blowing to see what life could've been like if I'd been a normal girl. I could've been staying out late and partying instead of chasing demons and my amnesiac brother. "

Satella sensed the tinge of wistfulness, and she refilled Rosette's glass and reassured, "Cast your regrets aside. Nobody can change the past, and you shouldn't fault your past self for being unable to predict the future. Right now's all we've got!" She launched into regaling them with stories she'd garnered during the party, and Rosette's mood revived until it became the two of them furtively giggling and whispering to each other. They'd accidentally excluded Chrono, and he rose and said, "If you two are gonna have girl-talk, then I'm going outside for some air."

The crisp, autumn night was a refreshing contrast to the still, smoky atmosphere inside the hotel. As he leaned on the roof's railing and observed Manhattan's shimmering lights, he thought about how this sight would've awed Rosette, how her face would've glowed with amazement, and how much he loved seeing that joie de vivre. A voice pulled him from his daze: "Aren't you cold?" He turned to see the subject of his thoughts crossing the roof towards him and joked, "You're able to walk this time. We weren't so lucky when you got drunk before."

"I learn from my mistakes." At the derisive snort this earned, she insisted, "I do!"

"Right, and how many cars have you totaled again? How much has the church paid for the trails of destruction you repeatedly leave? Why are we in Sister Kate's office nearly every week getting yelled at?"

She huffed in response, but her expression softened as she surveyed the cityscape. "It's like an ocean of stars: breathtaking, but it makes you feel impossibly small. That's life though, huh? You live, you die, and you hope that you affected something, someone, even though you're just a speck in the universe. This speck knows she's left her mark... in the church's coffers."

He puffed out a laugh and said, "That's a very human thing: to want to keep existing after death, whether it's in an afterlife or in someone's memories. We demons don't worry about that. I see how much humans stress over their lives having purpose or whatever, and it's like... why's it matter? If you had fun and tried your best, then you've done enough."

"I guess. It's just... I wanna see results for my efforts. I'm tired of trying my best and getting nothing."

He felt the hint of dejection, turned to her, and saw her for what she truly was: a girl constantly reaching out and thinking that she could grasp something only for it to slip away each time. If only he could make her see his resolve, how he'd inwardly vowed that if she needed something to hold onto, then he'd always be there. He moved towards her, and when she didn't budge, he gingerly held her and murmured, "You _are_ making progress. Give it time."

She snorted, "That's the one thing I don't have to give."

"Rosette, don't joke about that."

"What, should I cry about it instead? Satella said that right now's all we've got, and Azmaria said that it'd be bad to look back on our short time together and only see work. Now, you're telling me to have fun, so I will." She stared intensely up at him, and he returned a concerned gaze until she startled him with a peck to his mouth. He released her, sputtered, and touched his lips, and she said, "So, are we gonna have fun or what?"

"Aren't we're moving too fast?!" 

"Oh, _please_ , don't play innocent. I notice the looks you give me." She touched the watch hanging from her neck. "Anyways, with how long I've got, there's no choice but to move fast."

And move they did. Relief flooded them when they kissed; finally, this thing that both had been harboring but neither would acknowledge was allowed to surface. Her heart raced with the novelty of her first kiss, and the craving for more pushed her to learn quickly. As their kiss deepened, she returned his movements with a hungry enthusiasm, and she ran her hands over him until they stopped to cradle his face. His hand came up to rest over one of hers, and he detached from her lips to press his mouth to her palm. Driven by her flushed, mesmerized face, he slid her coat off a shoulder, kissed the bare skin, and moved from there to the crook of her neck and up to her throat. Thank goodness for his firm embrace because she was getting weak at the knees, and it culminated in her blurting, "Let's go somewhere else."

He stepped back from her, looked over their surroundings, and spotted the rooftop suite. They puzzled over how to enter, and then she exhaled irritably and marched away. She returned with a cleaning rag she'd found and began wrapping it around her fist, and his confusion became alarm when she threw a haymaker through the window. She cleared away the glass despite his scolding, and they climbed into an opulent setting.

He was still nagging her as they stood before a magnificent bed: "Belligerent, impulsive, violent. Why'd you join a convent again?" She barely heard him; forbidden acts are thrilling, but she hadn't anticipated getting this far into the act and could only mumble, "Let me freshen up."

There was the sound of water splashing in the restroom, and when she reappeared, he reassured, "Hey, we don't have to do this. It's enough to know you return my feelings. Let's go back."

"No. I didn't break that window for nothing. We've already knocked out gambling, drinking, and vandalism tonight. Let's keep this ball of bad behavior rolling." She removed her hat, boots, and jewelry, sat on the bed, and answered his dubious look with a defiant one. He sighed, removed his boots, coat, and accessories, and crawled towards her before pausing and saying, "You're sure about this? If you're uncomfortable or scared, then I'll stop."

"You think I'm scared? Are you challenging me?"

"No! God, what's the matter with you?!" He moved on top of her to kiss her and to let his mouth roam over where skin was available: jaw, throat, décolletage. His weight on her made her blood swirl with nervousness and desire, and there was a surge in that swirl when he palmed one of her breasts and then pulled her coat aside to expose it to a kiss. He sat back to unbutton her coat, and upon completing this task, he was stunned to find her completely naked underneath. He glanced away, sighed through his nose, and turned back to say, "Rosette. Your body's phenomenal, but... please tell me you took your underwear off in the restroom and that you weren't running around without it this whole time."

"No, I've been breezy the whole night. Before we left Satella's, I tried to roll my bloomers up so that they wouldn't stick out from beneath the coat, but then they were too tight around my thighs, so off they went."

"...You and Satella need to be separated." Over the sound of her laughter, he admired the spectacle beneath him and then returned to exploring it with his mouth and hands before pressing a kiss to one breast while giving its twin a squeeze. His lips gave way to tongue and teeth, and he eventually swapped sides so that both were lavished by mouth and hand. Her sighs and caresses emboldened him, and as she ran her fingers through his hair, his head began moving south.

Feathery, sloppy, reverent; all sorts of kisses were pressed onto her belly, thighs, and hips to build her up, and by the time he was parting her layers with his tongue, she was wet and burning with want. He moved about searchingly, trying to find what would set her off. Did she prefer flicking or sucking, rolling pressure or skillful circles, a focus solely on the clit or attention that was spread out? Whatever it was, he must've hit the target because a gasp and a twitch came from her, and with this new knowledge, he maintained his pace with the occasional bout of variety until she was panting and trembling.

The crescendo to her climax was swift and spectacular: the whimpers became an exclamation, and her thighs caught his face as her hips rose off the bed. It startled him, but rather than halting promptly, he decelerated slowly before ascending to her chest and throat, peppering kisses along the way. Sparks still flashed in her eyes and through her veins so that she was barely responsive, but she could feel him pressing against her through his pants. She shifted her weight against this new feeling, and he questioned, "Keep going?" She answered by reaching down between them and smoothing her hand over his erection, and he hummed, pressed himself against her momentarily, and pulled away to undress.

God, Satan, Pandemonium, some divine force was in the room that night because Chrono's every action was imbued with a captivating grace, and when he caught Rosette staring with an expression that was one step away from drooling, he laughed, "What?! You're making _me_ feel awkward."

"I've... never seen a naked man in real life before."

"Oh? Well, this is it. It's nothing special," he joked as he lay down next to her and turned her face towards him to kiss. His hand snaked down to between her legs, and his fingers sifted through slick skin, sometimes rubbing over her clit, sometimes pressing and massaging around it. She squirmed and made soft noises against his mouth as she felt the spring within her once again tensing, but then she thought that she should return the favor. She timidly gripped his length to give it some strokes, and then she grew bolder when he responded with sighs and increasingly fervent kisses. Beneath his fingers, the embers within her reignited into a growing fire, and just as this flame neared to flaring up, he removed her hand from him so that could move on top of her to line himself up. She tensed when she felt something blunt nudging at her, and he nuzzled her jaw and murmured soothingly, "Tell me if you wanna stop."

He eased in slowly, and even though she was throbbing with arousal, she couldn't resist shrinking away from this new and foreign ache. Small, pained noises escaped from her, and he applied encouraging kisses along the side of her face as he stretched her out. When it felt like he'd penetrated her fully, he pulled back slightly before pushing in again, and he continued this careful rhythm so that she could acclimate and relax.

Initially, she held onto him gingerly before graduating to gripping his shoulders and then finally wrapping her arms around him as his rocking became more vigorous. What had started as discomfort had bloomed into blinding, white pleasure, and it manifested as pants, curses, gasps, quivering, and then a telltale pulsing. He paused occasionally to lock lips so that they might prolong the experience, but she was too far ahead of him and could hardly return the gesture. His sliding halted when her walls clamped around him to hold him in place, and he didn't think he'd ever been more flattered to hear his name than when she uttered it so ecstatically. Her euphoria and spasms clenched around him and overwhelmed him, and his orgasm spilled from him not a minute after hers.

They remained like that briefly to catch their breaths, and then they separated and lay shoulder to shoulder until he rolled onto his side to hug her. "Jesus," she whispered, and then she covered her mouth as Chrono chuckled at her. She gave him a playful shove and continued, "I meant to say jeez. Do you think I'm going to Hell for doing the things I did?"

"Only if Satella gets burned at the stake first. Speaking of, what _were_ you two whispering about earlier when we were drinking with her?"

"Oh, just... girly things." She coyly smiled and snuggled into him. "Like she was saying... Holy... Did you unload inside of me...?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

She sat up with a distraught expression. "How could you?! I'll get... They'll throw me out..."

"Rosette. They're more likely to throw you out for your cursing, violence, and hotheadedness. I _cannot_ impregnate you."

She glowered accusingly at him. "Sometimes I forget you're a demon until you try to fool me."

"Why would I lie about this?! If you're homeless, then I'm homeless too!"

"But there are stories! For example, one of the girls over at the Sisters of Charity encountered an incubus, and now she's pregnant. Nobody sees it though because they've kept her hidden."

"Sounds like an encounter with a secret lover if you ask me," he scoffed. She remained uneasy though, so he sighed, "Incubi come from Hell. I'm from Pandemonium, where we're practically identical to ant or bee colonies: we've a queen mother, so everyone's sterile except for her."

"Then why do you have-" she motioned to his lower half covered by the blanket. "Or why do some of the lady demons have boobs?!"

He puffed out a laugh before answering, "Back when I was in Pandemonium, I'd heard that it's because the replacements for our queen switched from being demon to human vessels. Makes sense considering how newer demons, like myself and the other Sinners, look relatively human as opposed to some of the older demons. Uh, this is the weirdest pillow talk ever..." His explanation placated her, and she lay back down and murmured, "Well, if it means that everything's ok, then I don't care how weird it is."

They remained there, savoring the feeling of each other's skin and letting a bubble of temporary peace envelope them until he sat up to look at the clock and say, "We've been here for a while. We should go back. What if the party's already ended?" He quickly strode into the restroom to tidy up, and she reluctantly sat up. When he exited to get dressed, she'd lay back down, and he urged, "Come on! What if people start getting ideas from how long we've been gone, or we get busted for breaking in?"

"Ugh, it feels like too much to return to church now!" Nonetheless, she cleaned up and made herself presentable in record time, and as they left, she glanced back at the rumpled sheets and regretted that they had to leave what felt like a world just for them.

The party had wound down upon their reentry, and the remainder of it passed uneventfully but blissfully. There was a newfound airiness, like a thread of tension had been snipped and their feelings had been set free. Of course, Rosette and Chrono weren't entirely free: no visible affection was allowed. Still, they cherished what they had and made do with furtive looks and innocuous touches until they spotted Satella descending the stairs. She was conversing with a socialite, and they knew she was in rough shape from how she laughed too much and gripped the handrails too tightly.

They steadied her and set her in a chair, and after extracting Azmaria's location from her, they regrouped, made a phone call, and were delivered home into the haven called bed.

* * *

Rosette had never missed Sunday services since becoming a nun, but that morning, they all slept until noon. She awoke pressed against Chrono's back just as she'd once found herself before, except this time, there was no dismay or panic. Instead, she slipped a hand under his shirt, and he rested his own over hers to indicate that he was awake.

During brunch, they took turns recalling highlights of last night, and amidst this vivid conversation, Rosette lightly bumped her knee against Chrono's leg under the table. He mirrored the gesture, and there was a flutter inside of them at the knowledge that instead of keeping secrets from each other, they now kept a secret together.

After their meal, they returned their things to Satella and spent the Sunday lazily: napping before heading out for a day around town followed by dinner at a ritzy restaurant. Satella raised her glass in a toast, and they followed suit: "To us. To being young, beautiful, and reckless. To being dealt a shitty hand and doing our damndest to turn the game around."

The echoes of her sentiments weren't enough to stop the most cursed Monday ever from arriving. They packed up and thanked Satella profusely, and a swift blur of darkness later, Chrono's boyish appearance returned. He noticed how Rosette deflated slightly, and he tried to solace her with a rueful smile. They bid their farewells to Satella, and Steiner gathered them into the car and returned them to the Magdalene Order.

Rosette wanted to scream at the contrast as she readjusted to convent life: sermons, prayers, and exorcisms were so tame compared to her wild night of sex, gambling, and drinking. She inwardly wondered if she was wasting her youth; here she was with a limited amount of time, and there Chrono was with so much skill not being utilized.

She decided to solve this dilemma by waiting until night to sneak over to his room on the opposite side of the building from the nuns' quarters. Its distance and the fact that it'd originally been a storage room was a product of Sister Kate's initial distrust of him, but Rosette was now grateful that he was in an isolated spot. She knocked on his door, pressed her ear to it, and heard the rustling of sheets followed by a groggy "Yes?" She entered, quietly shut the door behind her as he blinked drowsily at her, and turned his bedside light on as she mumbled, "I can't sleep."

He sat up to stretch and feigned innocence. "Why? You're excited for San Francisco?"

"Don't play dumb! I'm excited for something else..."

A blur of darkness not longer than a second was all it took for the broad shoulders, tall frame, and handsome face to return. Her eyes widened with adoration and anticipation as he gave a knowing smile and murmured, "Oh? I wonder what it is."


End file.
